To Be a Lover
by only here in your arms
Summary: Clare Edwards and Eli Goldsworthy are in the business of dream extracting. But what Eli is hiding in his mind could completely risk everything they're working for. Inspired by Inception. ONE-SHOT.


**First of all, this one-shot was inspired by Inception. Secondly, if you're confused by the end, don't worry about it. Inception leaves you completely confused until the third time you watch it. Thirdly, I hope you enjoy this twisted, confusing, yet lovely one-shot.**

**Yes, ONE-SHOT. This is the longest thing I've ever written. Combination of two loves: Inception and Degrassi. :D**

**Enjoy. :)**

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Clare Edwards was new to the field of dream entering and extracting information. As an excelling student in Canada's most exclusive architectural college, she was asked by her professor to go for a job interview with a man named Michael Coyne. At the first meeting Clare had with Mr. Coyne, she was tested of her abilities of creating and solving mazes. Then the truth was revealed; Mr. Coyne ran a very small and very secretive company of dream entering, practically corporate espionage, and Mr. Coyne wanted Clare to create the dreams in which they plant their target to extract dreams.

Clare's first controlled dream was with Mr. Coyne's son Declan. He took her under, Clare being the dreamer and Declan's subconscious filling the dream, and he showed and explained the ways of the dream. Clare's dream put them in a gigantic glass library, it being something familiar to Clare. Declan's subconscious flooded the dream with projections and with every change Clare made to the landscape of the dream, Declan's subconscious stared. Clare realized then that more changes to the dream while you're in it makes the subject's subconscious try to figure out who is messing around in their mind.

Declan told Clare that his job title was an "Extractor" meaning he took charge in getting the information out of the subject's mind. His father taught him everything and eventually, Declan Coyne was the best extractor there is in the field. He and his partner recently lost their architect as the architect made a gigantic error which caused them to completely fail the mission and cause problems with the other corporation that hired them. Luckily they had a new mission that could erase all of the mistakes that they made before but this time they needed a newer more reliable architect.

It was week 2 of Clare's training and she was creating models and mazes day in and day out of her summer in an abandoned warehouse in a small town in Canada, close to her college. No one would expect them to be there so it made it the perfect place to set up their training, research, and everything else. Clare had only known two people of the team so far, Declan "The Extractor" and Adam "The Forger" who could change into different people in dreams and is an excellent thief. While Clare was sitting at her large section of the warehouse creating the dream, Declan was off finding a chemist and Adam was doing research at the opposite side of the warehouse. Clare had her music playing but softly, so as to not bother Adam with her "extremely girly music" as he put it.

When there was a sound of the warehouse door opening, Clare shot her head up worriedly. Did someone realize they were in there? But when she saw Adam smile and stand up, she relaxed.

"Where the hell have you been Goldsworthy?"

The two men, Adam and the one who walked in through the door, exchanged a quick hug and started talking. Clare tried not to listen to the conversation but it was difficult not to.

"Had personal problems I had to take care of back home," the man replied. "Told Declan that I would be here this week. Where is he?"

"Finding a chemist for the case," Adam said. "He's somewhere in Asia, I think. But here, meet our new architect. Clare!"

She turned her head up and pretended as if she didn't hear any of the conversation, She walked around the table and stood in front of them. "Elijah Goldsworthy, this is Clare Edwards, our new architect. Clare, this is Eli, the 'point-man'." Adam explained this as Clare and Eli shook hands. Clare noticed that Eli had a very serious and poised expression on his face. She also took in his appearance. He wore a three piece suit and sported gelled back hair which she thought to be a little long since it touched his neck. This made the small 22 year old feel completely under dressed in her jeans, cardigan, blouse, and scarf.,

"Nice to meet you," Clare said with a small smile.

"Nice to have you in our team," Eli replied. "You must be damn good if Declan approved. He's not easy to please."

"Well I'm glad to be impressive," Clare said in a slight sarcastic tone. "I better get back to work."

Adam and Eli nodded and watched as Clare maneuvered all around her large cardboard pieces and sat at her desk. Eli went to the station beside Adam's. A computer was already in place and tons of papers around for Eli to research. A "point-man" is the one who researches the subject to make sure the team knows every single detail about him. He was scary good at his job. He could figure out anything about anyone and know their moves before they made them.

Eli wasn't in the mood to research their subject. They had to get into the mind of a mob boss to extract the information on their next attack who just happens to be on Declan's sister, Fiona. Fiona got involved with a man who was secretly in a mob and after she found out of his job and his smoking and drinking addiction, she cut him off. The man was angry enough to want to hurt Fiona and now that she's gone into hiding, Declan and the team were going to the mob boss's mind to find out exactly what they want to do and how to protect Fiona.

Instead of researching the mob boss, Eli started to look into their newest team member Clare Edwards. Just five minutes into research, he found out her full name was Clare Diana Edwards, she had a sister named Darcy Edwards who was doing mission work in Kenya, her parents' names were Randall and Helen and were divorced, she went to school for architecture and was valedictorian at her high school Degrassi. But about an hour or so later, he found out Clare's much more personal information. Hospital and health records, breaking her arm at 9 years old, braces for a few years. He also found old pictures of her and her family. He slightly snickered at her nerdy look but found it pretty cute.

"Eli, are you looking at stuff for the boss?" Adam asked curiously, getting Eli's attention.

"Yeah," Eli coughed and exed out of the window and started a new one. "Of course."

"Sure," Adam said slowly and smirked towards their architect. "Suuure you were."

"Shut up Adam." Eli rolled his eyes and finally went to work researching the mob boss. His name was Archie Simpson but the mob didn't know that. To them, he was Snake. Eli figured that if his accomplices knew his real name they'd laugh him out of the mob. Snake was in his forties but still looked kind of young. He was tall as well, well over 6 feet. He had brain cancer but beat it and after that, he turned most of his attention to the mob and doing a lot of illegal things. Him and his mob managed to steal money from a bank, hold up convenience stores, and seemed to be behind a few unsolved murders in the area. It was flabbergasting to Eli that no one ever put the pieces together between the mob and the murders, the evidence was right there in front of him. _Just goes to show you how the federal system in this country is completely shot_, Eli thought.

It would be hours before any of the three in the room talked. Clare stood up from her chair and stretched out her arms. She then made her way to Eli and Adam's side of the room. "Do you guys want something to eat? I was thinking of going out to get some," she asked them.

"Whatever you're getting is fine," Adam said without looking up from his computer.

"Chinese it is then?"

Adam nodded and mindlessly handed Clare a few twenties. Clare turned to Eli whose eyes never faltered from his computer screen. "Eli? Is Chinese okay?"

Eli turned his head up and was slightly taken back. He noticed that Clare was a complete natural beauty and the light from the window framed her perfectly, showing off her perfect skin, glowing blue eyes, and lovely colored hair. "Yeah, um, that's-, yeah, Chinese, mhm…" Eli started mumbling and Clare smiled.

"Okay then, I'll be back in a half hour," she said and walked out of the warehouse.

Feeling completely flushed, warm, and red, Eli grabbed his handkerchief from his inside suit pocket and blotted his forehead. He noticed that Adam was laughing at him and Eli dropped the handkerchief and put his hands over his face. "Not funny, Torres," Eli groaned through his fingers.

"Dude, you're completely all over Clare. I don't think Julia would like that very much…" Adam teased.

"Julia's dead, Adam," Eli deadpanned. Adam's face fell and he felt terrible.

"Eli, I'm sorry, I didn't know. Is that what you had to attend to?" Adam asked.

Eli nodded his head. "A car hit her while she was crossing the road. Killed instantly. Happened a week ago, the funeral was yesterday."

"Dude, yesterday? Declan would've understood if you wanted to take a few weeks away…"

"And what? Stay home and think about her constantly. No, I'd rather be here immersed in work and have a different focus than my crappy life," Eli said and sighed. He began typing again and Adam dropped the subject, for now.

* * *

Meanwhile, Clare ordered tons of food at her favorite Chinese place and waited for her order. Once they called her number, she handed them Adam's money and took the bags and left. She felt cold in her light cardigan against the cold wind. The walk was about fifteen minutes away and it was beginning to get dark, slightly scaring Clare. She never liked being out when it was getting dark as her mind constantly wanders to the worst case scenario.

About two blocks away from the warehouse, Clare was startled when two men came out of an alley way and stood right in front of her. She smiled nervously and tried to maneuver her way around them but they wouldn't budge.

"She's cute, isn't she Dan?" one of them asked the other.

Dan walked around Clare and leaned in slightly to smell her hair. "Cute, yeah. Smells nice too. The girl wears perfume. Kinda chubby though, don't you think?"

"Girl's better with more meat on their bones," the nameless one smirked. He grabbed the bags of Chinese food from Clare's hands and put them aside. "What's your name beautiful girl?"

Clare thought of the first name she could. "Jane," she answered hesitantly.

"Hmm…Jane…a good, wholesome name," Dan said as he kept circling around Clare. He took a hold of Clare's scarf and pulled it, bringing it up to his nose.

"Ah, religious one too," the other said as he touched Clare's cross necklace. His finger lingered down the neckline of Clare's shirt, towards her cleavage. "You know what they say, right Dan? Good girls are always good surprise."

Dan laughed and gently wrapped the scarf around Clare's neck. But then he tied it a little too tight and Clare started to choke as he pulled the scarf and Clare towards the alley. "Stop—" Clare tried to say but with her airway constricted, it was difficult and just came out as hoarse words. She was pushed down onto the slightly wet cement and Dan straddled her legs and let go of the scarf, allowing her to breathe, but he kept a tight hold on her wrist and pinned them to the ground so she couldn't go away.

"Help!" Clare shouted as loud as she could but then her mouth was covered with a hand. Her wrists were now being kept down with just one hand with the other over her mouth.

"Shut up!" Dan roared and pressed his hand over Clare's mouth harder. "Shut the fuck up. No one will hear you and come to your rescue. Not with my friend keeping watch. Now…you're going to do as I say, you got that?"

Clare harshly bit Dan's hand, who yelled in pain, and Clare took the opportunity to kick him in his personal area. He yelled again and moved his body from Clare's. She quickly stood up and ran the opposite way only to be grabbed by the hair and pushed back down onto the grond.

"Feisty one, eh?" the unnamed one chuckled. Clare clutched her head which was in terrible pain from being pulled by her short-ish hair. "You're gonna pay for that Janie. Dan was gonna have all the fun tonight but I think it's only fair if both of us do. What do you say to that?"

Clare began crying to herself and shut her eyes tightly trying to imagine that she was somewhere else. She felt fingers around her belt as it was unlatched and her jeans were pulled down to her ankles. The same fingers then went to her panties but froze when she heard familiar voices.

"Get away from her," someone growled. Clare slightly opened her eyes and saw the man above her put his hands up and stand up away from her. She took the opportunity to pull her jeans up and stand up and went to stand with Eli, who had a gun pointed at the guy who was about to rape her. She turned her head and saw that Adam had Dan in a headlock as well as a gun pointed to his head.

"Run," Eli advised. "Before I have to desire to shoot you." The man ran away and Adam let Dan go, allowing him to run as well.

Clare was shaking in fear, her body had no feeling in it whatsoever. She felt like she was about to pass out from shock and fear and coldness. Eli turned to her and asked, "Are you okay?"

All of a sudden, Clare's body started to fall and Eli caught her in time before she fell to the ground. He sighed and lifted her up into his arms. Adam took Eli's gun from him and pocketed their guns and they headed back towards the warehouse.

* * *

"Hmm…I wonder where Clare is…" Adam said after an hour of sitting quietly.

"Shut up Adam," Eli warned from his computer.

"No I'm serious. She said she'd be back in a half hour, it's been at least an hour," Adam replied in a worried voice. "Shit, I knew we shouldn't have let a girl walk around by herself this late at night."

Eli turned his head up from his computer and heard a faint "Help" outside of the warehouse. Then he knew exactly where Clare was. "Come on, grab your gun," he told Adam and he quickly ran out of the warehouse with Adam following him.

"How do you know where they are?" Adam asked as they kept running.

"I don't," Eli replied shortly.

"So how do you know where we're supposed to find them?"

"I don't."

"Eli, come on—"

Eli and Adam stopped at an alleyway and saw a man on the ground grabbing his crotch and another man towering over a girl. Eli saw the shoes, the scarf, and the hair of the girl and suddenly knew it was Clare. Eli grabbed his gun as Adam took a hold of the man on the ground and put his own guy against the guy's head.

"Get away from her," Eli growled angrily with his gun pointed towards the man's head. Eli had fantastic aim and wouldn't even be scared of accidently shooting Clare. If he were to fire, he'd get the man several times in the head even if the man kept moving. The man stood up from Clare who suddenly adjusted her jeans and Eli felt a pang in his stomach. Had they been too late?

"Run," Eli told the guy. "Before I have the desire to shoot you." The man didn't have to think twice as he bolted towards the opposite direction. Adam let the other guy go and he followed his friend. Clare shakily made her way towards Eli and after he asked her if she was okay, her body went limp and Eli caught her in time.

Back in the warehouse, Eli put Clare's body gently on one of the lounge chairs that they used when they were dreaming. Eli told Adam to get a cold wet washcloth and once he did, Eli put it over Clare's forehead.

"Do you think they…?" Adam asked.

"I don't think so," Eli replied. "Well I hope not. The guy didn't have his pants down."

"So I guess we got there in time," Adam sighed.

"No we didn't. This shouldn't have happened in the first place. One of us should've been with her so this didn't happen. So no, we didn't get there in time. We didn't protect her. She's a young girl for crying out loud, a young girl that Declan brought into the business. Someone her age should not be a part of this…"

Eli stopped when he felt a hand over his. Clare took Eli's hand and the washcloth off her forehead. "It's not like I was running for the hills when Declan told me what it is you do," she told them with a reassuring smile. "Is there a blanket around? I'm freezing."

"Oh," both men said. They looked around and saw that they didn't have any so Eli shrugged off his jacket and wrapped it around Clare's upper body.

"No, I don't want to ruin your suit," Clare protested but Eli shook his head. "Don't worry about it. When you've been in this business long enough, you don't really have to worry about clothing and such. We'll raise the heat up here, just rest for now, okay? Did they hurt you in any way?"

"Other than almost ripping my hair out, I'd say everything's intact," Clare answered.

Eli and Adam walked back towards their desks and Adam heard the large sigh Eli let out. "We saved her," he reminded Eli. "She's here, she's fine. Should we tell Declan?"

"Probably," Eli said. "He'll give us hell for it but it's best if he knows."

Adam nodded and went back to his work. Eli subtly looked over his computer screen to make sure that Clare was okay. She was seemingly sleeping peacefully in the lounge chair and Eli couldn't help but worry about what effect this could have on her. Mentally, she could be scarred for life from almost being raped. Physically, this could prevent her from being close to anyone for a long time.

Adam announced that he would be going home now and Eli nodded. He planned on staying as long as Clare was sleeping, he'd make sure she got home safely, then go back home. When Adam left, it was 9:30 at night and Clare was still sound asleep. Eli went back to researching for hours until heard a sound from the opposite side of the warehouse.

"No…" Clare was mumbling. "No…please…stop…"

Eli started walking towards Clare's chair as her ranting and thrashing began to get more violent. She was screaming for help in her dream now and Eli took a hold on Clare's wrist and tried to keep her from moving. "Clare," he said loudly. "Clare, wake up!"

She kept moving her body though and suddenly, Eli was pushed back, off of the chair and onto the floor with Clare's body over his. This woke her up and she lifted her head from Eli's chest. "Why are we on the floor?" she asked groggily.

"You were asking for help in your sleep and I tried to wake you up but you kind of pushed me down. Are you okay?" Eli inquired as Clare went to sit on the chair.

"My dream kind of re-enacted what happened," Clare sighed. "No one came to save me though."

Once his body wasn't in pain anymore, Eli sat up and knelt in front of Clare, reassuringly putting a hand on her knee. "You were saved though, Clare," he told her. "If you're going to be in the dream business, you're going to have to be able to separate reality and dreams, okay? When under sedative, never think of the bad things that have happened to you. It's the quickest way to ruin a job. Once you go through your first real lucid dream, you won't be able to dream again, so you know."

"Why is it so important to dream?" Clare asked.

"Sometimes…you just need to get out of reality," Eli answered. "This job is the only way I can get out of my real life but I never allow myself to bring in my life to this job. Being in this business, everything is separating your real life with the dream we're entering. I don't think that you'll be there when we actually do the mission but when you're teaching us the mazes and levels, you can't get distracted. Got it?"

Clare nodded and kept her head down. Eli reached over and adjusted his jacket over Clare's shoulders. "Come on, I'll walk you home," he offered.

* * *

A typical job took at least 3 months to execute perfectly with practice and research needed to be top notch. Clare finally got a handle on lucid dreaming and was able to teach Adam, Eli, and their new chemist Sav the different levels of the dream. Each would spend at least 5 days with Clare, learning the different levels, and then go under sedation and perfect the dream.

Clare was still dreaming but she tried to cherish each dream. She wasn't sure if she would be part of the mission when the time came but if she was, she wanted to make sure she dreamt as much as she could before they stopped for real. Eli told her that dreaming wouldn't be able to happen after the mission so the only dreams she would have would be lucid.

The last few dreams Clare had safe in her bed always had Eli it them. Whether he was just a face in the crowd, a friend, a colleague, a love; he was there. Eli's face always managed to get through into her dreams and when she would wake up, she wished to dream again. She thanked God that she was never the subject of the dream, only the dreamer. The subject brought in projections, people that populate the dream and know all of the subject's secrets. The dreamer merely creates the dream for the subject to bring in their projections. Because Clare was always the dreamer, she could never bring in her projection of Eli. If anyone realized of her feelings for him, it would surely jeopardize her well-paying job.

Clare wasn't even sure of how she felt for the team's point man. Sure he was intelligent, fit, handsome, dressed well, but other than this, she had no idea who he was. For all she knew, his life was just this job. But she imagined his life outside of dreaming. She imagined that he was brought up in a rich family, a mansion, butlers and maids, went to an expensive private school, had loads of girlfriends, went to Harvard or Yale, probably had a girlfriend too. At first Clare thought that Eli had to be married as no girl could ever give him up but he wasn't wearing a wedding ring. Clare also imagined Eli to be rich on his own outside of this job. She thought that he probably owned his own business and was making tons of money from it. The dreaming world was merely a hobby.

But she couldn't be sure whatsoever. Eli never talked of his personal life. Come to think of it, no one ever did. The team was always so focused on their jobs that they never made any time to get to know each other, or so Clare thought. Maybe they just never liked to talk about their personal lives when a girl is around? Adam told her that this was the first time a girl was ever part of their team and she felt honored. But she also felt out of place. Everyone was so intelligent and had their act together while she was just a young girl still in college, still trying to figure herself out. She wasn't even sure that she wanted to be an architect when she graduated. Sure she loved creating things but since she was so young, she couldn't be sure of what to do with her life. She did love creating the impossible for the dreams though. This became her life from her other life.

"Anyone up for some drinks tonight? We've been stuck in this warehouse for days on end and I think we've earned ourselves a night of fun, yeah?" Adam was always the vivacious one. He livened up the place whenever it got quiet for too long. He also got into little arguments with Eli a lot but at the end of the day, whatever problems that came up that day was buried.

"I guess I'm up for a break," Sav agreed. "Anyone else?"

"I don't drink…" Clare said slowly. She was expecting them to snicker at her but they just shrugged their shoulders.

"Come out with us anyways," Adam said. "Drinking not required. Let's just get out of this stuffy place."

"I guess I'll go," Clare said nervously. She never went to a club or a bar ever in her life and going with a bunch of guys that she didn't know that well? Wasn't really a good idea, she thought. But these guys were trained to handle anything that happens in dreams and in your dreams, it feels like real life so in reality, they could handle anything in real life as well. The night Clare almost got raped was the perfect example of that. "You're not going to carry guns, are you?" she asked quickly once she remembered that moment.

This time they laughed. "No," Adam answered. "We only had them because we thought something happened to you."

"Oh," Clare sighed. "Okay then."

"Goldsworthy, you in?" Sav asked him.

Clare looked over at the point man at his desk. He was looking straight at her. "Why not?" he said nonchalant. "Can't make me drink though, Torres. No matter how hard you try."

"Who said I would try?" Adam put a hand to his heart, as if he were shocked.

Eli merely rolled his eyes and grabbed his jacket that laid neatly on the back of his chair. "Declan, you coming?"

"No, I'm going to a family dinner tonight. You guys have fun though. Don't get into trouble," Declan advised them.

"We won't!" Adam called out and practically ran out the door. Declan motioned Clare to come over to him and she did while putting on her jacket. Declan handed her some cash and she was confused.

"They can get a bit…crazy. Put Adam in a cab once you're all finished. He is terrible when you're in a car with him. If he's in a cab, he'll behave. I don't know about Sav but if he gets drunk, do the same thing. Don't have to worry about Eli, he won't drink. He'll drive you home, I'm sure." Declan went back to his work once he stopped talking to Clare and she confusedly walked to the exit where Eli was waiting for her with the door open.

"You didn't have to wait," Clare told him once they both stepped outside.

"Well I'd rather wait for you than hear Adam talk about what he's gonna do at the bar," Eli semi-joked. Clare found herself giggling nervously and started to blush.

"Stop flirting and get in the car!" Adam shouted from the passenger side window. This definitely made Clare red and she tried hiding her blushing cheeks once Eli closed the car door after opening it up for her. "Okay, let's get this night started!" Adam exclaimed. Sav turned on the car and drove.

* * *

Clare could hear Adam's voice over everyone else's at the club they ended up at. His voice was very distinct and when drunk, the voice was projected to a higher volume and you couldn't miss him. Clare sat lonely at the bar with a non-alcoholic drink in her hand. Sav and Adam went off to drink and dance, Eli was at God knows where, and Clare was at the bar by herself. A few guys tried to talk to her but she shooed them away, not really in the mood to be chatted up by random guys.

"I think you should have at least one drink." Adam sneaked up behind Clare, startling her, and he sat down in the stool beside her as Sav and Eli stood close.

"I don't drink," Clare reminded him.

"Come on, just one," Adam pressured her. Sav was laughing, agreeing with Adam and Eli just stood coolly beside them, not saying a word, but smirking.

"Fine," Clare sighed. "But on one condition."

"What?" Adam and Sav asked.

Clare turned to Eli. "Eli has a drink too."

"YES!" Adam shouted loudly. He faced Eli who was shaking his head. "Come on! Live a little! Just this once, please!"

Eli saw that Clare had a conniving look on her face and he couldn't say no. "Just one," he growled lightly.

"Finally!" Adam ordered Clare and Eli some drink that they had never heard of before but a deal was a deal. The two clinked glasses and both took a sip of their drink. Clare made a disgusted face as Eli felt like he acid was just poured down his throat.

"Ugh," Clare groaned. "That tasted terrible."

"You haven't even had half of it yet," Adam complained.

"I'll finish it on my own time," Clare snapped. Adam put his hands parallel to his shoulders.

"Fine, fine. We're gonna go find some ladies. Enjoy the drink, you two." Adam laughed away from Eli and Clare with Sav following him. Eli and Clare looked at each other. Clare pushed her drink away but Eli downed the rest of his drink in one last gulp and made a grossed out face.

"What in the world?" Clare said.

"Might as well if Adam paid for it," Eli shrugged. "Should not have drank the rest of the drink at once though."

"Yeah," Clare laughed slightly. "I don't even think I'll be able to finish it."

"It's not that bad," Eli told her. His gaze wandered somewhere else as Clare continued to talk.

"Seriously? It felt like rubbing alcohol down my throat. Smells fantastic but I cannot drink this crap," Clare complained. Eli took the drink and drank the rest in one gulp and Clare's jaw dropped. "Seriously?" she exclaimed. "You were just fighting Adam on drinking tonight!"

"Fuck it," he replied. "We've got one life to live, right? I'm going to enjoy it as much as possible." He then turned to the bartender. "Another one of these."

Clare was utterly shocked at how much Eli was drinking. What on Earth couldn't changed in him that quickly? He was denying a drink just ten minutes ago and now, 4 drinks later, Eli was pissed drunk and practically falling from his chair.

"I was a boy scout once, have I told you?" Eli was talking complete nonsense to Clare now and all she was focused on was not letting Eli fall from his barstool and stopping any more alcohol consumption on his part. He was a lightweight. Just 4 drinks and completely gone.

"No you haven't," Clare replied.

"Well I was," Eli said as he pointed his finger at Clare. "Wasn't very good at the camping part. Hated bugs and all that. But now I pitch a damn good tent. Not that many people can say that."

"Or they could read directions," Clare shrugged.

Eli titled his head. "You know, you're really cynical."

"Oh you haven't noticed?" she said sarcastically.

Clare jumped when Eli laughed a shrill laugh. He had his head down on his arm against the bar and laughed like a maniac. Thankfully the laugh wasn't loud, just long. "Why are you so sarcastic? Is it because you're trying to mask true feelings?" Eli inquired with his head still on the bar.

"What?" she asked nervously. "What are you talking about?"

"Sarcasm is a reflex for trying to hide something," Eli said. "I've had to learn how people talk, react, act, breathe, do anything. I know people. I know when they're trying to hide something. Like…that girl." Clare turned around and looked at the one Eli was pointing at. "See how her elbow is on the table and she's smiling like that? That means she's trying to show off her best assets. Breasts and smile. With that move with her arm, she's trying to draw attention to her chest. She likes whoever she's talking to. Now she's going to laugh a kind of fake laugh but it's hard to tell because she does this move so much. By the looks of her, she's in her late twenties- desperate for a husband and tries to chat up as many guys as she can." The girl did laugh and Clare couldn't tell if it was fake or not.

"You're good," Clare commented and turned back in her seat.

"No, it's just my job," Eli replied. "Which brings us back to you. You're hiding something. You do know that I could just go into your mind and find out your secret, right?"

"But you won't because you're a good and rational person," Clare said.

"No, I won't because I respect you and your right to keep secrets. Besides, Declan and Mr. Coyne would kill me if I deliberately went into your mind to find something out. But you do know that I'm a point man, which means I can figure out anything about you."

Clare gave him a look. "If I haven't told anyone, how can you find out?"

"I have my ways," Eli whispered leaning in slightly. Clare took this time to examine Eli's very green eyes. They were darker in this light but still unmistakably green. He was looking at her in a curious way suddenly and he sat back up.

"I think you need another drink," Eli told her.

Clare shook her head rapidly. "Oh no, definitely not. You're drunk and don't know what you're saying."

"I am not drunk," he said pointing his finger again.

"Uh, yeah you are," Clare replied.

Eli took his nearly empty drink and drank the rest. "I am not."

"Yeah, whatever you say," Clare said as she rolled her eyes. Eli ordered another drink and Clare was very close to telling the bartender to ignore him but she didn't feel like she was in the place to make Eli's decisions for him. He was a grown man and obviously needed to relax since he was so serious all of the time, why not allow him a night to cool off?

By the time Adam and Sav came back, they were both too drunk not to walk by themselves. They held onto each other's backs laughing and Clare took a hold of Eli's arm and Adam's back and escorted them out of the club. Clare managed to hail a cab and the money that Declan gave her would only cover for Adam and Sav so Clare took Sav's keys and put him and Adam into the cab, paid the driver, and walked to Sav's car and got Eli into the passenger's side.

She didn't know where he lived or stayed and he was already passed out before she could ask him so she just drove to her apartment and got Eli on her bed. She took off his shoes and his suit jacket and rested it on a nearby chair knowing he didn't like it to crease. After tucking him under the covers, Clare grabbed her change of clothes and started towards the door when she heard him mumble something.

"Julia…" he sighed and adjusted his head on Clare's pillow. "I miss you so much."

Clare felt a pang in her heart. Eli had a girl in his life. "Julia," he repeated himself. "You're beautiful." Clare couldn't take it anymore, she left the room quickly, got dressed in her sweats, and made herself comfortable on the couch. She felt a tear leave her eye but she wiped it away quickly. She wasn't going to let herself cry over something that was never there. She had to work with the man and if feelings got in the way, she'd have to give up her job and she didn't want that. So she buried her feelings and went to sleep.

That night, her mind dreamt of who she imagined this 'Julia' to be. Beautiful, dark haired, lovely. Once Clare woke up, she desired one thing. Never to dream again, fearing she'd dream of Julia, the one she'd never live up to.

* * *

Another went by and Clare was completely silent for most of it. She answered shortly to questions, listened when need be, but she didn't talk. The most she'd talk in a week was how much Adam would speak in 6 hours. None of the team knew why she was suddenly isolated from everyone by her own choice but she was still doing her job and she was doing it well so they said nothing.

Eli couldn't help but feel a little awkward. After his little episode at the bar, he woke up confused in a woman's bed. After that, Clare drove him to his place where he took a shower and changed his clothes and they went to the warehouse. During this time, they didn't talk other than when Clare explained what happened. Eli felt weird that he could barely remember that night and felt even more weird that all he could remember was spending time with Clare. Right as he woke up that next morning, he thought that he might've slept with her but when he saw his dress shirt, pants, belt, and socks were all still on, that scenario went right out of the window.

He snuck glances at her over his computer to see what she was doing. She continued to play around with cardboard pieces or draw things but she never looked up from her work. Her music wasn't even playing anymore and he knew something was up with that.

"Okay, I'm really bored," Adam groaned. "I'm tired of this awkwardness filling the warehouse."

"Who said anything about awkwardness?" Eli asked.

"Uh, it's practically seeping out of this bolted windows. Seriously, did something happen between any two people in this place because we cannot have this kind of energy once we enter the dream."

Declan sat up. "Adam's right. Why is it so damn quiet in here?"

"Well Clare's not playing her music…" Eli pointed out.

All of the guys turned to Clare who didn't seem to even acknowledge that they were talking. "Clare…" Declan said slowly. She didn't look up. "Clare." Still nothing.

"For Christ's sake, Clare!" Adam shouted as loud as he could and finally Clare looked up from her work.

"What?"

All of the guys groaned. "Seriously?" Sav asked. "We want to know what's going on with you."

"Nothing's going on," Clare shrugged.

"So why aren't you playing your music?"

Clare looked at the spot where her iPod dock usually was. "I lost my iPod. That's why I'm not playing my music."

"And why you haven't been talking?" Adam inquired.

"I have a sore throat," Clare answered. They noticed that her voice did sound a bit hoarse. "When I get sick, I get sick for a while. I don't want to make it worse by talking."

"Ohhhhh," Adam and Sav said at the same time. Declan just nodded his head understanding but Eli didn't seem convinced. He let it go though and made a note to speak to Clare when he got her alone.

Later that night, Adam, Sav, Declan, and Clare all left around the same time. Eli stayed back as he was waiting for something to finish downloading and it was taking longer than he thought. By this time it was around midnight and Eli was getting tired but thankfully they had a coffee maker. As he waited for the file to download, he looked at the PASIV laying close by. The PASIV was the device which hooks up the dreamers and the subject to share their dreams. It was a technologically complex design and only ten were made in the world. Luckily, the Coynes had them all and Eli was always in the possession of one. Eli thought back to the last time he had his own lucid dream without anyone else hooked up to it. Once he saw that the file wasn't even close to being finished, Eli went over to the lounge chair, hooked himself up to the PASIV and once the sedative flowed through his body, he was out and dreaming.

* * *

"Haven't you ever imagined what it was like to grow old together?"

Eli was sitting in his living room. Comfortably on the couch, he faced his wife, Julia. They held hands over their laps as Julia talked to him.

"Have children, watch them grow and get married and have children of their own, and grow old together?"

"Of course I do Jules," Eli replied. "You have no idea."

"Do you remember when we first met?" she asked him smiling.

"Of course," Eli said. "I was buying my car from your uncle…"

"And I thought you were crazy for wanting to buy a hearse," Julia continued.

"Then I told you to be quiet because Morty could hear you," Eli slightly laughed. He raised his and Julia's hands up close to his face to feel Julia's warmth. "But eventually you came around to him and you suggested our first date to be in the back of Morty were we had a picnic."

"Overlooking the stars," Julia whispered. "Do you remember when you asked me to marry you?"

"Same place," Eli answered. "Just a few years later. How could I ever forget?"

The sound of an elevator stopping made Eli turn his attention away from his wife to the sound. He panicked when he saw Clare standing at the elevator with wide eyes. Eli ran to the elevator and closed it, pressed a button, and the elevator shifted upwards.

"What are you doing here?" Eli asked in a low voice.

"I'm sorry, I came back to get my scarf and I saw you were hooked up to the PASIV and I got curious…" Clare said in an embarrassed voice. "I'm really sorry."

"You shouldn't go into people's dreams like that," Eli said.

Clare kept shaking her head. "I'm sorry, I'm really sorry."

She looked ahead at the different levels they were passing and when they stopped at the top level, Eli opened the door but didn't step out. Clare saw a parked hearse at a hill with a woman sitting on the rooftop of it, overlooking the night sky. After hearing the conversation Eli had with Julia, Clare realized exactly what this was.

"This aren't just dreams…these are memories, and you said to separate real life from your dreams…" Clare was completely confused yet amazed yet petrified of what could be in Eli's memories.

"I know I did," Eli said. He closed the elevator gate and pressed a number.

"This isn't safe," Clare continued. "You bottling up these memories could potentially ruin…"

"I know that," Eli answered angrily. "The only way to make sure I don't do that is to dream by myself, therefore I wouldn't have a reason to bring in my…projections."

"So you can't stand being away from your wife long enough for this job so you have to have lucid dreams about her?" Clare asked hastily. "Oh my gosh, she knows the maze and could ruin everything. What are you hiding down on the bottom floor then?"

"Look, don't make judgments about me. There's only one thing you need to know," Eli said. He pressed a number on the elevator wall and it stopped on that floor. Eli opened the gate and walked inside what seemed to be a house to Clare. It was nighttime there and Eli led Clare to the kitchen where Eli took a seat at the breakfast nook where a phone was lying on the countertop.

"I was waiting for a call from Julia," Eli started. "It was around 3 in the morning. She said she'd call me whenever she cooled off and I waited and waited. I cleaned up the place while I waited. Then the phone rang." Suddenly it did which made Clare jump. Eli picked it up and answered it. "It wasn't from Julia though," Eli continued on. "It was a call from the hospital telling me that my wife Julia was killed. Got hit by a car. Died on the scene. I was…I was just so angry. She was taken away from me just like that. My first real love, my wife, my…everything. We had a fight earlier that night which caused her to go off by herself. I didn't think that this would happen…but it did."

Eli heard the elevator door close and Clare was suddenly going down in the elevator and he cursed loudly, not wanting Clare to see exactly what was on the bottom level. Clare found herself staring the same house once the elevator stopped. It wasn't nighttime though, more like afternoon. She saw broken glass on the ground when she neared the living room. Clare tried to avoid stepping on any but she did and once she made that sound, she was startled when she finally noticed a woman sitting on the couch. She was exactly how she imagined her to be. Clare saw a dark haired woman, extremely beautiful, sitting on the couch. She looked battered and beat up, with red blood marks over her arms, face, and torso. This was Julia. Julia after she was hit.

"What are you doing here?" Julia asked.

Clare started to stutter. "I'm, I—"

"I know who you are," Julia said standing up and circling around the couch. "What are you doing here?"

"I'm…I'm just trying to understand," Clare said nervously. Julia started to walk towards her. She was taller, skinnier, prettier. Clare couldn't help but feel inferior.

"Understand what?" Julia asked, now walking around Clare. "How a fight between two people could escalate this high? How a mistake could lead to a death? How words could have that much of an effect? Can I ask you a question, Clare?"

"O-okay," Clare answered.

"Okay," Julia sighed. "Do you know what it's like to be a lover?" Julia leaned in closer to Clare. "To be half of a whole? Living for someone else, knowing you can't go on without them?"

"I…I don't…"

Julia laughed. "Of course not. You're young. You don't know how it feels to love someone else."

"I know that…" Clare said in a shaky voice. She was scared. Seeing someone look like they've just risen from the dead was not something normal and Clare knew that Julia was not stable. The look in her eyes was enough.

"So…just imagine then," Julia said facing away from Clare. "Imagine that you and your husband have an argument about something, plates are shattered, punches are thrown, from me to him of course, and words are said which hurt the heart causing one to storm off. Imagine how it feels to be accused of something you never did. Imagine how it feels to walk on the street in the cold, having nowhere to turn and suddenly…" Julia made a crashing noise. "You're dead."

Clare didn't speak at all. Hearing what happened the night Julia died completely froze her. This sounded like a movie she never wanted to see, a love story that ended tragically, a nightmare you want to wake up from.

"Imagine," Julia whispered. "Imagine how it feels."

"I know how it feels."

Clare turned her head to see Eli standing at the elevator. He made his way to stand behind Clare while Julia was still turned away. "Julia, what happened that night…"

"What happened that night was an accident," Julia said mimicking Eli's voice. "If you could take it all back, you could."

"You know I would," Eli said softly. "But…life has to go on, Jules. I can't keep coming here to…"

"You want to forget me?" Julia asked, finally turning around. Clare's eyes turned big when she saw that Julia had a broken shard of glass in her hand.

"No, I don't," Eli answered.

"What is this?" Clare whispered to Eli.

"The night Julia died, we had a fight. I found a pair of boxers in the laundry that weren't mine and I accused her of cheating on me," Eli said to Clare but looked at Julia. "She got angry, we had a large fight, and she stormed off. She told me she'd call me but I never got the call. If I hadn't accused her, she'd still be alive."

"Always jumping to conclusions," Julia said while shaking her head.

"Her death was my fault," Eli said softly, as if finally admitting it to himself.

"Your fault," Julia repeated and started towards Clare and Eli. Eli grabbed Clare's arm and pulled her to the elevator and closed the elevator gates, preventing Julia from coming in to hurt either of them. "You said we'd be together! You said we'd grow old together!"

"I know I did," Eli said over the large sounds that Julia was making while trying to burst through the gate. He reached over and pressed a random number. "I'm so sorry, Julia. I am so sorry."

Julia shook the gate again and while the elevator went up, she gave them both a menacing stare.

* * *

Suddenly, they were back in the lounge chairs and Clare quickly pulled out the IV.

"You can't keep her in your memories to be trapped in," Clare said to Eli once he was finally up. "Can you ever forgive yourself?"

"No," Eli shook his head. "I can't."

"You were angry, Eli. It's a natural emotion."

"Yeah but when you're angry, it doesn't lead to someone dying, now does it?"

Clare looked down to her lap, trying to calm herself from her encounter with Julia. From Eli's dream, she found out that Eli was married to Julia, Julia has passed away, and Eli is feeling all of the guilt. She felt terrible hating Julia after Eli mumbled her name and now that she knew the truth, she didn't know how to feel.

"Eli, this isn't healthy," Clare said slowly.

"How am I supposed to let this go?" Eli asked with a shaky voice. "I…I can't forget her."

"No one said you had to but like you told her, life goes on Eli! It does!" Clare told him honestly. "You just have to allow yourself to move on and live your life. We can't bring her back and going into your mind to be with her does not change the fact that she's gone. You have to let yourself move on and proceed with your life. The Julia in your mind is angry and upset. Do you really think that she would've wanted you to be holding that guilt that's eating you alive?"

Eli found himself taking Clare's arm and dragging her out of the warehouse. He made sure it was locked and secure before taking Clare into his car and driving away. Clare was nervous, not really sure where he was going to take her, but eventually they stopped at some hill.

"This is where…" Clare realized.

"Where Julia and I had our first date and where I proposed to her," Eli answered. He parked his car on the hill overlooking a beautiful view. "Every time I miss her I drive up here because I know it's her favorite place in the world. I've never brought anyone else."

"So why'd you bring me here?" Clare asked apprehensively.

"Because…" Eli started. "You make me forget her and that scares the crap out of me but I also feel better. The guilt is gone and when I'm with you or around you, I can forget."

"Eli, you don't have to forget—"

"I know," he interrupted. "But sometimes…it's just nice to. You're just…you're different." He took Clare's hand in his. "Don't shut me out because of my past. I know I am probably the furthest thing you thought of when thinking of a potential boyfriend or whatever but I am attracted to you even though I don't know you that well."

"You're a point man," Clare slightly smiled. "You should know everything about me."

"I know things about your life, not things about _you_," Eli said. "I want to get to know you. Please."

"We work together," Clare sighed and pulled her hand away. "They wouldn't like this."

"So? Do something spontaneous and compulsive for once," he said. "And I know you have a thing for me, let's stop pretending."

"I do not," Clare scoffed. Eli raised an eyebrow. "Fine, fine. Damn, you do know how to read people."

"It's the job," Eli replied smiling. "You see? I am in a good place when I'm around you. I need you to help me. Even if you don't want to date me or anything, at least be my friend and help me through this. I can't tell anyone about what happened with Julia, I just can't."

"So why did you start dreaming where any one of us could've come in and started dreaming with you?" Clare asked.

Eli looked at his lap. "Because I was hoping that you'd walk in and be your curious self and put yourself in the dream."

"You…you wanted me there to see what happened," Clare stated. "You wanted me to know."

"I saw you've been out of it for the past few weeks and I remembered that night that I was mumbling Julia's name. it seemed to have gotten you upset and I realized why you were. At the bar I knew you liked me or were attracted to me and I didn't put the pieces together until that saying Julia's name was what upset you. You see? I know how to read people and I know how to remember things that happened weeks ago. That's what makes me the best point man out there."

Clare rolled her eyes. "You know, you're kind of vain."

"And you're cynical," Eli winked.

Clare looked out over the view and saw exactly why Julia loved being there. "I'll help you," she promised. "Just as long as you promise not to dream just to see her. You need to stop seeing her so you can forgive yourself."

"I promise," Eli sighed. "Thank you."

"You're welcome," Clare smiled.

* * *

Five months after the mission and Clare was sitting in her apartment. She had been part of the mission and couldn't dream anymore but she didn't really mind. In reality, she was dating the point man who was finally better. He never spoke of Julia or even mentioned going to dream to see her since that night they went to the hill. As for the mission, it went smoothly and they were able to extract the information the mob boss was keeping about Fiona Coyne. They got Fiona safely in the states and got the mob arrested and therefore keeping Fiona safe.

After the mission, Adam went to travel around the world until the next mission would come, Sav went to college in Canada, Declan and his dad were still working together, and Clare and Eli were about to move in together. With the money they received for their work, they were able to build their dream home designed by Clare of course. They even managed to acquire land looking over the view they loved but from a different place.

"Ready?" Eli asked Clare. Clare had the last box of her things in her hands.

She smiled and walked towards the front door. Eli leaned down to give Clare a quick kiss on the lips before taking the box. "Ready," she sighed. She closed the door behind her and left her old life. Her new life consisted of living with Eli, working as the official architect for the Coyne's dream company, and being completely out of the ordinary. Not that many people could say that they've been able to extract information from someone's mind, had a device which controlled lucid dreaming, had the ability to create dreams, she was no longer ordinary.

* * *

**The ending was crap but I definitely liked the beginning to the middle. Very long, eh? I didn't think I could make a story like this short so I just made it a long one shot. I hope you like! Tell me what you think in a review!**


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